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Originally posted by Phasad1913
But, 'we the people' elect government (congressmen, city and state representatives) based on some principle that is in alignment with our own and we the people expect our elected officials to carry out their campaign promises. If one just so happen to be a law banning gay marriages and that is what the people want, then it becomes law. This is why voting is sooooo important.
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This is why, even though much of the way we live in America is very segregated and we all know that a lot of that has to do with continuing and persistent prejudice and racism, the government is not going to go into the homes, schools, churches, etc. of every person and force them to integrate their lives with someone of a different color. Those individuals who wish to isolate themselves in a way that they interact with people of their own "kind" have the private right of autonomy to do so, withoutht he threat of the government coming in, even though the government has made it clear the objectives it has and thinks the nation should have in ridding the society of that kind of seperatism.[/Quote]
But the government does have incentives to 'force' people together - usually through federal funding. No, they can not come into your home, but the feds do come into schools and some businesses via the 'dirty words' Affirmative Action.
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It can't force people to give in to so-called "moral " standards. All it can do, and all its supposed to do is refrain from imposing oppressive actions itself, which is what it should have done in this case.
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But it can, through voting. If majority of the people want to set some standard, they just encourage their city, state, and/or congress representative to vote on some measure to do so. That is why we have ratings for TV, movies and song lyrics. There has been a moral 'line' established that says something like people 17 and under can not watch or hear certain acts unless authorized by a parent. People who are younger than 21 can not legally purchase alcohol, and that all porn mags should be behind the counter wrapped in brown paper.
Government is not some abstract concept. Government in this country is representative of the people and if the people 'want' something they take action through government. Again, like I said, voting is important.